Chevy Chase sees drop in revenue from speed cameras

Village projects could be affected

Revenues from speed cameras on Connecticut Avenue have hit the skids over the past year, but officials say recent safety stats show the cameras are working.

The number of citations issued from the two fixed-pole and two portable speed cameras in Chevy Chase has dropped dramatically since last summer by as much as 55 percent, although the number of accidents has not declined greatly.

According to Chevy Chase Village Manager Geoffrey Biddle, in August 2008 the village issued 11,523 citations from the four cameras, generating $460,920 in gross revenues, the highest monthly total for fiscal 2009 (each citation is for $40). By comparison, last month the village only issued 6,640 speeding citations from the cameras, generating $265,600 in gross revenues. In the last year, the cameras generated the lowest monthly number of citations in February, the shortest month in the calendar year, with 5,044 issued.

"I'd say the trend is demonstrable," Biddle said.

In February, the village switched from a $16.25-per-ticket fee to the camera's vendor, ACS State and Local Solutions, to a flat $148,000-per-month fee for all four cameras. But a law passed by the Maryland legislature this year capped the revenue municipalities can realize from speed cameras at 10 percent of their operating budgets. All revenue over this amount must go to the state. Biddle said the village is examining the impact of this law on its flat-fee contract.

He said future village projects like emergency communications system upgrades, sidewalk repairs and streetlight upgrades may be affected by the sinking revenues. In the past, the village projected annual revenues of $1.2 to $1.5 million from the cameras.

"There is no long term (financial) future for these cameras because they are so effective. It would be foolish to build budgets on these things," Biddle said.

Village Board of Managers Chairman Douglas Kamerow emphasized that the primary issue has been safety, not revenue, and that capital projects also related to public safety like the sidewalk repairs have been the beneficiaries of the speed camera program.

"We may come to the point where it would just pay for itself, and that's fine," Kamerow said.

The legislation capping municipal revenues from speed cameras also allows the cameras to operate across the state in school and construction zones beginning Oct. 1. Previously they had only been allowed in Montgomery County.

From Sept. 1, 2006 to Sept. 30, 2007, about half a month before the cameras began operating, there were 61 accidents along Connecticut Avenue in the village, according to Police Chief Roy Gordon. From Oct. 1, 2007 to Oct. 31, 2008, there were 56 accidents. Gordon said that while the decline may not appear large, a similar 8 percent reduction in crime would be welcomed gladly.